Adobe stock
The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending June 28, 2024, closed at 3,821.08 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 0.94% (or 35.45 basis points).
Thirteen RDWI members gained value last week from 0.28% (IBM) to 5.91% (Ford Motor Co.). Twelve RDWI members lost value the previous week from -0.21% (Oracle) to -5.29% (Merck & Co.).
Chips in the news
Infineon Technologies, Neubiberg, Germany, announced last week that it plans to set up a $37 million R&D center in Taiwan with government funding of about $15 million to develop next-generation Wi-Fi and Bluetooth semiconductor chips for electric vehicles in collaboration with local Taiwanese partners. The R&D center investment is the first among European automotive chip manufacturers. The project would cover the entire R&D process for its automotive-grade Bluetooth chip to be carried out in Taiwan. The company expects to collaborate with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute, National Taiwan University, National Cheng Kung University, and National Taipei University of Technology, along with multiple network module manufacturers and automotive system developers.
Entegris, Billerica, Massachusetts, announced last week that it expects to receive $75 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS and Science Act following the signing of a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms. The company will use the proposed investment to finance the construction of a manufacturing center in Colorado Springs and the expansion of its R&D capabilities in the U.S. The move will bring about 600 direct manufacturing jobs over several years and approximately 500 construction jobs by 2030. It is also predicted to result in Front Opening Unified Pods being produced in the U.S. rather than abroad.
| Company | Ticker | Exchange | 2020 R&D billion$ | 6/21/24 | 6/28/24 | 6/21/24 to 6/28/24 | 1/1/22 to 6/28/24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet/Google | GOOGL | NASDAQ | 27.303 | 180.26 | 183.42 | 1.75% | 26.63% |
| Microsoft | MSFT | NASDAQ | 17.198 | 449.78 | 446.95 | -0.63% | 32.89% |
| Volkswagen | VWAGY | OTC | 17.259 | 11.99 | 11.92 | -0.58% | -59.18% |
| Apple | AAPL | NASDAQ | 18.667 | 207.49 | 210.62 | 1.51% | 18.61% |
| Meta Platforms | META | NASDAQ | 13.874 | 494.78 | 504.22 | 1.91% | 49.91% |
| Intel | INTC | NASDAQ | 14.503 | 31.09 | 30.97 | 0.39% | -39.86% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | NYSE | 13.75 | 148.75 | 146.16 | -1.74% | -14.56% |
| Roche | RHHBY | OTC | 14.143 | 35.59 | 34.67 | -2.58% | -32.93% |
| Merck | MRK | NYSE | 11.381 | 130.72 | 123.80 | -5.29% | 61.53% |
| Novartis | NVS | NYSE | 9.387 | 105.22 | 106.46 | 1.18% | 21.71% |
| Toyota | TM | NYSE | 10.724 | 193.58 | 204.97 | 5.88% | 10.62% |
| Pfizer | PFE | NYSE | 8.336 | 27.74 | 27.98 | 0.87% | -52.62% |
| Alibaba | BABA | NYSE | 6.006 | 73.67 | 72.00 | -2.27% | -39.39% |
| General Motors | GM | NYSE | 6.727 | 47.72 | 46.46 | -2.64% | -20.76% |
| Honda | HMC | NYSE | 8.806 | 31.37 | 32.24 | -2.77% | 13.32% |
| Ford | F | NYSE | 9.340 | 11.84 | 12.54 | 5.91% | -39.62% |
| AbbVie | ABBV | NYSE | 13.949 | 170.39 | 170.77 | 0.22% | 26.12% |
| Sanofi | SNY | NYSE | 7.750 | 47.21 | 48.52 | 2.77% | -3.15% |
| Cisco | CSCO | NASDAQ | 6.331 | 47.29 | 47.51 | 0.47% | -25.03% |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | BMY | NYSE | 7.130 | 41.93 | 41.53 | -0.95% | -33.39% |
| AstraZeneca | AZN | NYSE | 6.056 | 78.88 | 77.99 | -1.13% | 33.89% |
| IBM | IBM | NYSE | 5.368 | 172.46 | 172.95 | 0.28% | 29.40% |
| Oracle | ORCL | NYSE | 6.928 | 141.50 | 141.20 | -0.21% | 61.91% |
| Eli Lilly | LLY | NYSE | 8.606 | 883.88 | 905.38 | 2.43% | 227.78% |
| Stellantis | STLA | NYSE | 5.309 | 20.50 | 19.85 | -3.17% | 1.59% |
EV update
Car makers that include Audi, Porsche, and Toyota have all stated that they’re rolling back their electrification targets as electric vehicle (EV) sales decline due to customer and shareholder pushback. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had intended for EVs to account for 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales by 2032 to achieve stringent emission reduction targets. Cooling of demand now expects EV sales to only be 35% to 50% of the new vehicle market by 2032. Companies like Mercedes-Benz admitted their electrification targets were overly aggressive and are investing significant sums of money in the development of new combustion engines which will last well into the 2030s. Large development budgets will be required to guarantee these gas engines comply with ever stricter emission regulations. Mercedes expects to invest $15 billion in its passenger car sector in 2024 with funds allocated to high-technology combustion areas.
Image courtesy of Rivian.
RDW Index member Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, Germany, announced last week that it is investing $1 billion in electric pickup maker Rivian Automotive, Irvine, California, with plans to spend up to $5 billion as part of a software development partnership. It is projected the deal will boost the balance sheet of the loss-making Rivian startup and help lower the cost of the company’s next generation of vehicles. The deal also is expected to bolster VW’s software unit, which has struggled with quality issues. VW will initially invest $2 billion in creating a jointly owned software company that uses Rivian’s vehicle technology as the foundation for programs that will go into both automakers’ future vehicles by 2030.
Quantum leap
Quantum computing company Orca, London, announced last week that it will lead an R&D consortium to develop network multiplexing and switching technologies for quantum computing and data centers. The consortium includes Toshiba Europe, Bay Photonics (Paignton, U.K.), Imperial College London, and University College London. The quantum networking technologies the consortium will develop would allow for large-scale quantum data transfers at levels necessary for commercial applications. To allow for industrial-scale quantum computing and networking, the technologies, delivered in tandem, will cover quantum memories, frequency shifters, and spatial switches.
R&D World Index Week Ending June 28, 2024 – Sectors
| Category | 6/21/24 | 6/28/24 | 6/21/24 to 6/28/24 | 1/1/22 to 6/28/24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICT | 1798.31 | 1809.84 | 0.64% | 24.85% |
| Automotive | 317.00 | 327.98 | 3.46% | -4.07% |
| Biopharmaceutical | 1670.31 | 1683.26 | 0.78% | 63.70% |
South Korea ups R&D budget
South Korea’s presidential secretary for science and technology Park Sang-ook announced last week that the 2025 R&D budget will increase by 13.2% compared to the 2024 R&D budget and at a similar level to that invested in 2023. The South Korean government slashed the 2024 R&D budget, which was meant to address inefficiency in the government’s R&D support. Restoring the R&D budget for 2025 allows a renewed focus on AI, biotechnology, and quantum technology. The final amount for 2025 will be confirmed after receiving approval from the National Assembly in August.
Image courtesy of ABB.
ABB, Zurich, Switzerland, announced last week that it is investing $35 million in a greenfield site in Nottingham, U.K., to meet increased demand for its Furse lightning protection products. The facility is expected to open in 2025 and will integrate advanced technologies, flexible automation, R&D and testing, and digital processes to boost production capacity and enhance efficiency and sustainability.
AI in the news
RDW Index members Apple, Cupertino, California, and Meta Platforms, Menlo Park, California, were noted last week as talking about integrating Meta’s generative AI model into Apple Intelligence, the recently announced AI system for iPhones and other devices. Meta and other companies developing generative AI systems hope to take advantage of Apple’s massive distribution through its iPhones, like what Apple offers with its AppStore on the iPhone
R&D World’s R&D Index is a weekly stock market summary of the top international companies involved in R&D. The top 25 industrial R&D spenders in 2020 were selected based on the latest listings from Schonfeld & Associates’ June 2020 R&D Ratios & Budgets. These 25 companies include pharmaceutical (10 companies), automotive (6 companies), and ICT (9 companies) which invested a cumulative total of nearly 260 billion dollars in R&D in 2019, or approximately 10% of all the R&D spending in the world by government, industries and academia combined, according to R&D World’s 2021 Global R&D Funding Forecast. The stock prices used in the R&D World Index are tabulated from NASDAQ, NYSE, and OTC common stock prices for the companies selected at the close of stock trading business on the Friday preceding the online publication of the R&D World Index.
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